Pakeha

[Swoop]

Not that interested in Penguins.

Perhaps you should be. They were here long before the white man OR the maori.

The genuine tangata whenua are short, have wings (but don't fly) and eat lots of fish.
They are not too fond of seals though...

[Grahameeboy]

Dont find it offense at all;
What about Ehore?
Sounds terrible..but in fact its not.

Poo, Tigger, Roo............

[peasea]

my beef is two fold,

I thought you were a bloke....

[Grahameeboy]

geez you honky's get upset easily

Yep agree with you there.

I was called a POM for years, even though it was not technically correct as it refers to either prisoners of mother England or sailors from Portsmouth, I did not care........but got a bit bored after a while so would answer "No", they would say "Well who are you" and I would say "I am me".

But I always answer "Others" as New Zealander for my Daughter rather than New Zealand European as she is not a European, she is 100% Kiwi and I am proud of that, she is more Kiwi than Maori's are Maori............

[Grahameeboy]

I thought you were a bloke....

Getting harder to tell these days eh.............

[BuFfY]

Yep agree with you there.

I was called a POM for years, even though it was not technically correct as it refers to either prisoners of mother England or sailors from Portsmouth, I did not care........but got a bit bored after a while so would answer "No", they would say "Well who are you" and I would say "I am me".

But I always answer "Others" as New Zealander for my Daughter rather than New Zealand European as she is not a European, she is 100% Kiwi and I am proud of that, she is more Kiwi than Maori's are Maori............

People calling you a POM is one thing, but it being in educational literature is completely different. It would be like calling the Pasific Island people FOBs

[Grahameeboy]

People calling you a POM is one thing, but it being in educational literature is completely different. It would be like calling the Pasific Island people FOBs

Is the name POM not in educational literature? Mind you most Brits are illiterate from reading The Sun too much........

[peasea]

Is the name POM not in educational literature? Mind you most Brits are illiterate from reading The Sun too much........

Not to mention blinded by its output.

[EJT]

"The fact is, pakeha was first used to call the Europeans 'white pig' or some other variant."

You have stated this as a fact, when it is anything but. And a quick read of the huge amount of material around on the subject would have shown you the position is unclear. Why did early settlers refer to themselves as Pakeha?

If you refer to yourself as a New Zealander, I take it you don't ever refer to Maori as Maori or Asian New Zealanders as Asian?

I would have thought hearing the term "European" or "Caucasion" used daily on TV would cause more offence.

[Macktheknife]

Perhaps you should be. They were here long before the white man OR the maori.

The genuine tangata whenua are short, have wings (but don't fly) and eat lots of fish.
They are not too fond of seals though...

Actually mate, the original Tangata Whenua, were short, pale skinned, and frequently had red hair, and they were referred to as the 'stone people' or 'stone builders' by those who arrived here before the maori. Of course they were all driven off/killed off and some were eaten by the warlike maori when they arrived some 900 years later.

Interesting stuff history.

But back on topic, being called Pakeha doesn't bother me at all, tauiwi on the other hand does bother me a bit.
But the one that really upset me was a maori activist who said that because I was white I had no history or mana or whakapapa. Ignorant savage.

[LilSel]

I'm also uncomfortable with its' use, particularly on official documents. I always cross it out and write "New Zealander".

me too!! lol... I was under the belief that it ment white pig... so I dont wanna be called taht

[MisterD]

You can quote all the Wikipedia entries you like, but to me the term is still derogatory - it is, by and large, used by maori in a perjorative manner to mean "colonial $&%##!@ to blame for everything that's worng with my life".

It goes over my head, because I'm not one, I'm English (Nga Yorkshirenui, same tribe as J Cook). I'm a POM, also a derogatory term, but I'm reclaiming it "nigger" style

[MSTRS:Me]

me too!! lol... I was under the belief that it ment white pig... so I dont wanna be called taht

I think that belief came about from the Maori word for human flesh, which translates as 'long pig', as I understand.
Tongue firmly back in cheek - my earlier translation of 'pa-ke-ha' was interpretation only...another way could be that it means 'tastes strange (when) dead'.

[Ocean1]

I'm also uncomfortable with its' use, particularly on official documents. I always cross it out and write "New Zealander".

This approach has been causing the waitemata DHB some headaches as they get funding based on ethnicity of people in their catchment area.

Excellent, another chip in the race-based health funding abomination.
Although, if we all claimed to be Maori there'd be more health alms available in the area...

What's worse - Pakeha or NZ European?

Think that's the point, why do we have only those choices? "Pakeha" is not a valid alternative to "Maori", neither for that matter is "Asian". Christ half the planet is "Asian", a range of cultures probably as numerous as the rest of the planet put together. The problem I have is that Pakiha is not a culturally descriptive noun, it's exclusive, it essentially means "foreigner" and I decline to be so labeled.

[007XX]

Think that's the point, why do we have only those choices? "Pakeha" is not a valid alternative to "Maori", neither for that matter is "Asian". Christ half the planet is "Asian", a range of cultures probably as numerous as the rest of the planet put together. The problem I have is that Pakiha is not a culturally descriptive noun, it's exclusive, it essentially means "foreigner" and I decline to be so labeled.

What i find utterly frustrating, is that we all have various ancestry, making us all a "melting pot" of the races...

Why do we keep on wanting to seclude ourselves as of such or such race...

Call me New Age, but I got all sorts of bloodlines in my veins, and I'm very proud of all of them.